Domain7

Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce's 40 Under 40

Last week I spoke at the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce alongside other previous recipients of Business in Vancouver’s 40 Under 40 designation.

Though asked to share some of my keys to success, I can never separate Success from Purpose. Success looks much different when it flows from purpose, rather than standing as an entity pursued on its own. For me this purpose has always stemmed both two things: the feeling that life is an amazing gift and a passion for the underdog.

I began Domain7 to help a non-profit organization bring their voice to the web. Since then I’ve spent 15 years—with the talent and support of an incredible team—creating practical solutions for clients (often underdogs) online.

At their core, every problem we face in our work is a Human problem. I think the Web opens up a world of creative opportunities to solve those problems—it levels the playing field and gives everyone a voice. We all have equal access to the internet. It gives great opportunities to underdogs.

In our work and life, it’s too easy fixate on the outcomes of our work and forget to continually ground ourselves in purpose. Here are some lessons I’ve learned that help undermine distractions and keep my focus on the “why” questions of work and life:

1. Work at self-awareness. Know what drives you. Articulate your purpose.
2. Find others who share those core drivers. Work with those folk.
3. Make it human. Don’t leave your values and the things you hold dear at your office door. As London Business School professor and celebrated author Gary Hamel asks, “Why are words like ‘love’, ‘devotion’ and ‘honour’ so seldom heard in the halls of coporate-dom? Why are the ideals that matter most to human beings the ones most notably absent in managerial discourse? ” Bring yourself to your work.
4. Be flexible. It’s a tough balancing act to stay consistently true to purpose, and we don’t always succeed. Your purpose needs to be flexible and responsive.
5. Progress is more about changing yourself than it is about changing the people around you. Depreciate your intellectual capital over time.
6. Measure your success against what drives you and what gives you meaning. It’s hard, but it’s worth it.

Read more about my talk and the 40 Under 40 event in the Abbotsford Times.

15 years of Domain7

If our last two blog posts didn’t tip you off, we LOVE Christmas at Domain7. But this year there was a little extra jolly in our holly as we also celebrated 15 years in business!

Over 100 of our clients, partners and friends joined us at our Vancouver office for an occasion we like to call “Chr15tmas”. It was a classy affair—but far better than the canapés, wine and tunes, was seeing so many faces that have contributed to the success of Domain7 in the last 15 years. We look forward to working with you for another 15 plus!

To see all the party photos, visit our Flickr site.

Domain7 at the CFL Western Final (yay Lions!)

A dozen Domain7-ers (and loved ones) gathered at our Vancouver office last week and made the big trek across the street to the brand new BC Place, where we watched the Lions win the CFL Western Final. We liked to think our exceptional cheering was partly responsible for the win, but their subsequent Grey Cup performance proved that the Lions are just THAT good!

photos by the endlessly talented Tracey Falk

Digital East Conference

Last week I got to attend the Digital East Conference in Tysons Corner, VA, along with fellow marketers, bloggers, web strategist, and social media experts.

It was impressive to hear from Google’s David Perry, DC’s own Jon Carpenter from Living Social, Eric Ludwig from Rosetta Stone, and Marc Haseltine from National Geographic among others.

Some tips and highlights from these leading innovators:

Social Media

• What’s your story? Know your story and tell it well.
• Find out who’s already listening. Start with the folks who love and are loyal to your brand now.
• Build your network before you need them.
• Provide authentic content and meaningful feedback.

Marketing

• Marketing is all about relationships! Learn as much as you possibly can about your top three customers. Ask the ‘why.’
• Work at building relationships, not building a network. When you have relationships, you’ll discover you’ll have the network.
• Harsh truth: If your brand isn’t good, offline, it wont be good online.
• Write in the language of your customers.
• Real time data doesn’t matter if your company doesn’t respond in real time.
• Content doesn’t have to be formal or casual, but should reflect the company’s personality and brand.

Fun facts

• Skydiving was Living Social’s most successful deal yet.
• Facebook is the largest social gaming platform.
• Living Social sold more pole dancing deals than gym memberships.

D7 East, Golfing for the Special Olympics

This week, members of the Domain7 East team got to participate in the 10th annual Montgomery Masters to benefit the Special Olympics Montgomery Chapter. Sentinel Wealth Management—a new client of ours—invited us to sponsor the tournament and we were happy to get involved.

The Special Olympics began over 40 years ago, right here in Montgomery County. It began in a backyard, and grew into the 1968 “Summer Games” at Soldier Field in Chicago, and is now an international program that reaches more than 3 million special needs athletes in over 180 countries around the world. Frankly, it’s a cause we are so excited to get behind.

Pam Yerg, director of Special Olympics Montgomery Chapter, said, “As we prepared for this event, we were on the lookout for companies and organizations that would want to join us in making a difference in the lives of so many. We thoroughly enjoyed having the young and enthusiastic Domain7 golfers with us, and look forward to many more years of their involvement in our programs!”

Domain7 East Director, Phil Gallo and myself got to spend some time with Will Ennis—a Special Olympics coach, and seriously talented golfer. It was amazing to be able to support Sentinel, but also to see firsthand the heart and soul of the Special Olympics. The organization is really like a family and everyone involved shares a passion for the cause—it’s very contagious and fun to be a part of!

Pat Ennis, our client at Sentinal had some nice things to say about our involvement in the event: “It is very exciting to see a quality firm like Domain7 invest back into great community works like the recent golf event for Special Olympics Montgomery County. At Sentinel we are grateful for D7’s professionalism in helping us rebuild our site, as well as their generosity in working with us to support SOMD.”

What makes good design stand out?

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending Interior Design Show West, an edited trade show of contemporary, cutting edge and original design. The show boasted over 200 exhibitors and presentations by experts like Suzanne Dimma, Editor-In-Chief of House and Home, and Kelly Deck, Founder & Director or Kelly Deck Design.

While admiring the vast array of designer “eye candy”—from lighting to flooring, computer generated artwork to handcrafted textiles, furniture, carpets, appliances, wall coverings and everything in between—I wondered: When everything is deemed “good design” what makes a piece stand out?

The answer may be different for everyone. For me, it comes down to the idea. When everything is “good”—both functionally and visually speaking—what truly stands out are the clever, unique, innovative, inspiring ideas. I gravitate toward designs that come from “outside the box”.

Here are a few “outside the box” designs I found inspiring. I hope they are the same for you.

• Straight Line Designs
• Brent Comber
• Fat Boy
• Beetling
• Big Rock Design

D7 West Summer Barbeque

Close to 80 people came out for our annual summer picnic at Dennis and Rene Neumann’s home.

An offhand remark about a bouncy castle (or “jump house” if you’re Daniel Barczi ) came to fruition, much to the delight of the 30-some-odd chilluns running around. Along with swimming, tractor rides and a highly competitive bocce match, this was possibly the best summer BBQ to date—certainly the biggest!

Congrats to Reuben and Kirk on their bocce win.

Huge thanks to the Neumanns for hosting, and to Renita & Stan Wiebe and Cheryl & Dave Balzer for cooking up a ridiculously huge feast for our massive gang.

Photos courtesy of Tracey Falk

Branding, Partnerships and Social Media for Non-Profits

The American Marketing Association hosted the 2011 Nonprofit Marketing Conference at the Washington Hilton Hotel in DC this passed week.

I got to be a part of this fabulous event as Domain7 East’s representative. It was an honor to spend almost three days among agencies and marketing professionals from some of the most well know non-profits in the US and Canada.

I was inspired by the commitment these organizations had to their respective causes. Many large non-profits like the Red Cross, United Way and American Cancer Society were there learning alongside smaller organizations. All the groups—large and small alike—were there because they recognize the vital need for quality marketing strategy, partnerships and the importance of leveraging digital methods to maximize their ROI and grow their organizations.

The panelists, round table and lecture speakers included Katie Bisbee, Senior Marketing VP of DonorsChoose.org, Carol Cone, Managing Director of Brand and Corporate Citizenship of Edelman, Brendan Hurley, Senior VP of Goodwill of Greater Washington, and Hilary Noon, VP of American Cancer Society among other various industry leaders.

There were plenty of highlights, but here are just a few gems that stuck with me!

Branding:

• One speaker defined branding as “discipline for how the organization thinks, acts and communicates.”
• Brands are built from the inside out.
• A good brand combats the mentality that “many know us, but not what we do.”
• A true brand should not only tell your audience who you are and what you stand for, but should also communicate your promise of authenticity.

Partnerships:

• Actively manage the relationship, not just the project.
• Partners should fit with the organization—they should have shared values and a common core attitude.

Digital & Social Media:

• Empower your constituents to promote your brand: make channels/platforms/tools for their voice to be heard.
• Assign a staff member to oversee, communicate, promote and devote ample time to valuing comments, etc.
• People are much more likely to respond positively when they know a recommendation for the organization is from some outside source, like a reliable blogger.
• When partnering (with companies, bloggers, celebrities, etc.), “well known” is not always the best choice. Measure/know your partners are a good fit for your organization.
• Mobile, mobile, mobile! Average open rates: email=20-30% vs. SMS=90%

3 Basic Marketing Steps for Non-profits:

1. “Convince the head” Answer these questions for your audience: What does your non-profit stand for? What do you do better than anyone else?
2. “Touch the heart” Connect emotionally with your target audience; invite people into the cause.
3. “Engage the hands” Build a community and call it to action!

Overall, the panelists and speakers shared wonderful insight into building non-profits and they further equipped non-profit leaders and marketing strategists to grow their organizations while they influence and air others through their products and services.

Howard Schultz 'bucks the Recession

Last week, three members of the business development team braved a drive through the blue-and-green-clad downtown throng to join the Vancouver Board of Trade for lunch and a talk by venerated Starbucks CEO, Howard Schulz.

As a former espresso-slinger myself, I was curious to hear Schultz’s take on business growth and to learn how Starbucks has managed to thrive in the midst of recession. He did not disappoint!

On top of some great stories of bold decisions in the world of coffee, he gave us some helpful tips we can all apply to our own businesses:

1. Create a value proposition for your customers

The economic conditions we’re in right now will have a long tail, according to Schulz. The average customer won’t change their behaviour any time soon, so you need to put your feet in their shoes: give them something of value. For Starbucks this meant a cheaper cup of drip coffee, but on the web this usually means creating useful content—if customers are learning something or engaging their brains when they visit your website, they are sure to come back, and in doing so, will deepen their relationship with your company.

2. Traditional marketing is gone by the wayside

We can’t rely on old school methods for brand awareness anymore. According the Schultz, “Social media is a bullet train that’s not stopping.” Companies need to understand what resources are necessary to build social media into their organization. They also need to avoid the mistake of using social media channels to simply sell. Best used, social media builds trust—it’s a place to share information and develop a relationship. And once you’ve built that trust, you can use it to sell 2-3 times a year at most. Shultz should know: Starbucks is the number one brand on Facebook, Twitter AND FourSquare.

3. Forge new paths

Right now Starbucks is leading the charge in making use of the digital wallet. Three years ago, seeing what was happening in Asia, Schultz embraced using cellphones to pay. Within 80 days of introducing the service, Starbucks was number one in mobile payments—in both transactions and dollars. He stresses that companies need to push for reinvention. Search around corners with great curiosity to see what stone remains unturned. But those actions need to be linked with leadership courage to be successful. He points to Starbucks’ decision to introduce instant coffee. It was a market that had seen no innovation in 50 years. Starbucks reinvented that category and in three years it will be a billion-dollar category for the company.

4. Build trust first. Sales will follow.

Most customers, even in recession, want to support a company whose values align with their own, claims Schultz. Companies that embrace social consciousness and give back to their communities will retain customers, even in tough times. It’s not just about price, nor convenience. He adds that this starts from the inside: hire people who share your values! You can’t build a great business without great people, and HR must have a seat at the big table, weighing in on company strategy.

Domain7 Hearts Run for Water

Sunday morning, 3500 people invaded the streets of Abbotsford with running shoes and some determination as Run For Water put on its 4th Annual 5k/10k/half-marathon and full marathon races. Domain7 has been involved as a sponsor since the events’ kickoff in 2008 and we were thrilled this year to see over $203,000 raised for clean water programs in Ethiopia.

Also this year, for the first time, we sent in a crew of Domain7ers to pass out water and cheer on the runners’ efforts—runners who included our very own Bridie Bradley and her husband Reuben! Congrats you two, and thanks to everyone who came out to help!

Check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.